The “Liberal” State… - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The “Liberal” State… . …a woman’s perspective. Introduction. This presentation will focus on gender equality in the law. Feminist maintain that historically laws have not been in women’s hands and have largely been one sided against women

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Feminist maintain that historically laws have not been in women’s hands and have largely been one sided against women

This presentation will discuss the law as a powerful medium of progressive change and furthermore its bias against women and its present quest for equality

I will discuss the perspectives of specific philosophers throughout history including: Plato/Aristotle, John Locke/Hobbes, and the more contemporary views of John Stewart Mill and feminine theorist Catharine Mackinnon

I will discuss their perspectives in terms of feminine equality in their conception of laws

In his dialogue Timaeus, Plato discuses reincarnation, stating that men who “were cowards or lead unrighteous lives may…changed into the nature of women” when they are reincarnated

In the Republic, and in the Laws Plato further deprecates the nature of women

Plato calls women the “weaker partners” to men in their occupations, and in the Laws he states the female sex is more “inclined to be more secretive and crafty, because of its weakness..a women’s natural potential for virtue is inferior to a mans”

Social contract theory discusses hypothetical “social contracts” or laws, and how people should act politically and morally as a result

Early social contract theorists discussed the nature of society, and furthermore, postulated laws

The Social Contract Theory has its origins in the works of Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke

They essentially considered how man would behave in a world devoid of laws or government- a “state of nature”

Hobbes and Locke both argued that in order to have safe and stable lives, rational beings in this 'state of nature' should enter into an agreement or “social contract” to create a sovereign government that would regulate their lives and the world.

Rational beings will thus be more willing to give up part of their liberty in exchange for a system of law which would therefore make their lives much more stable and secure.

John Stewart Mills is a British philosopher, moral, and political theorist who’s aim was to develop a positive view of the universe and the place of humans in it

He was interested in the progression of human knowledge and individual freedom and wellbeing

Mill therefore wrote in his essay on the Subjection of Women a defense on gender equality

He believed that women must be liberated from the shackles they are trained to voluntarily impose upon themselves, as it is in their own interest and in the interests of society

Mills advocated for women to participate in democratic political processes where they can be free, and debates about social means can be made

He thought that this would be one part of many steps through which women could come to recognize how they were bound contrary to their own interests and thus help secure their own freedom and develop their own individuality